HSV play their home games at the Volksparkstadion in Bahrenfeld, a western district of Hamburg. The stadium is currently entitled the Imtech Arena through a sponsorship deal. The club colours are officially blue, white and black but the home kit of the team is white jerseys and red shorts. The team's most common nickname is "die Rothosen" (the Red Shorts). As it is one of Germany's oldest clubs, it is also known as der Dinosaurier (the Dinosaur). HSV have rivalries with Werder Bremen, with whom they contest the Nordderby, and Hamburg-based FC St. Pauli.

Hamburger Sport-Verein (HSV) traces its origin to the merger of Der Hohenfelder Sportclub and Wandsbek-Marienthaler Sportclub on 29 September 1887 to form Sport-Club Germania Hamburg, usually referred to as SC Germania. This was the first of three clubs that merged on 2 June 1919 to create HSV in its present form. HSV in its club statute recognises the founding of SC Germania as its own date of origin.[4] The other two clubs in the June 1919 merger were Hamburger FC founded in 1888 and FC Falke Eppendorf dating back to 1906. The merger came about because the three clubs had been severely weakened by the impact of the First World War on manpower and finance and they could not continue as separate entities.[1]

SC Germania was formed originally as an athletics club and did not begin to play football until 1891, when some Englishmen joined the club and introduced it. SC Germania had its first success in 1896, winning the Hamburg-Altona championship for the first of five times. Germania player Hans Nobiling emigrated to Brazil at the end of the 19th century, where he became an important pioneer of the game, instrumental in the foundation of SC Internacional, the third oldest club of the country which became part of São Paulo FC in 1938 and SC Germânia of São Paulo, which later became EC Pinheiros one of the major sports clubs of Brazil.

Hamburger SC 1888 was founded by students on 1 June 1888. It later had links with a youth team called FC Viktoria 95 and, during the First World War, was temporarily known as Viktoria Hamburg 88. SC Germania and Hamburger SC 1888 were among 86 clubs who founded the Deutscher Fußball-Bund (DFB; German Football Association) in Leipzig on 28 January 1900. FC Falke was founded by students in Eppendorf on 5 March 1906 but it was never a successful team and played in lower leagues.

The newly formed Hamburger SV quickly became competitive and contested the 1922 national final against 1. FC Nuremberg, who were playing for their third consecutive title. The game was called off on account of darkness after three hours and ten minutes of play, drawn at 2–2.[5] The re-match also went into extra time, and in an era that did not allow for substitutions, that game was called off at 2–2 when Nuremberg were reduced to just seven players (two were injured, two had been sent off) and the referee ruled they could not continue. Considerable wrangling ensued over the decision. The DFB awarded the win to HSV but urged them to refuse the title in the name of good sportsmanship (which they grudgingly did). Ultimately, the Viktoria trophy was not officially presented that year.[5]

HSV's first post-war season was in the newly formed Stadtliga Hamburg and they won its championship in 1946. The club also won the championship of the British occupation zone in 1947 and 1948, the only two seasons this competition was staged.[6]

Playing in the Oberliga Nord after the resumption of league play in postwar West Germany in 1947, HSV became a frighteningly dominant regional club. In sixteen seasons from 1947–48 to 1962–63 they laid claim to the Oberliga title 15 times, only posting an uncharacteristic 11th place finish in 1953–54. During this period, they scored over 100 goals in each of the 1951, 1955, 1961, and 1962 seasons. In 1953, the club's all time leading goalscorer Uwe Seeler debuted. In nine seasons he scored 267 goals in 237 Oberliga matches.[8]

As national champions, HSV represented West Germany in the 1960–61 European Cup. The club's first ever match in European competition was a 5–0 defeat of Swiss club BSC Young Boys in Bern,[7] with HSV winning the tie 8–3 on aggregate. In the quarter-finals they beat English championsBurnley, before being defeated by FC Barcelona at the semi-final stage in a playoff game after the scores were level over two legs. The crowd of 77,600 at the Volksparkstadion for the first leg against Barcelona remains the record attendance for a HSV home match.[7]

Soon after, Germany's first professional football league, the Bundesliga, was formed and HSV was one of 16 clubs invited to join that first season. Hamburger SV currently holds the distinction of being the only original Bundesliga side to have played continuously in the top flight – without ever having been relegated – since the formation of the league in 1963. They had shared that special status with Eintracht Frankfurt and 1. FC Kaiserslautern until 1996, and with 1. FC Köln until 1998. Altogether, 49 other sides have come and gone since the league's inception. The Bundesliga celebrated its 40th anniversary on 24 August 2004 with a match between "The Dinosaur", as the club has been affectionately nicknamed due to its old age, and Bayern Munich, the league's most successful side.

Between 16 January 1982 and 29 January 1983 HSV went undefeated in the Bundesliga. The run stretched across 36 games and remained a Bundesliga record until November 2013, when it was broken by FC Bayern Munich.[12][14]

Both 1984–85 and 1985–86 were disappointing seasons for HSV; with the club finishing fifth and seventh respectively. In 1986, legendary midfielder Felix Magath, who had played for the club for ten years and scored the winning goal in the 1983 European Cup Final, retired from professional football.[10]

In August 2004, HSV was upset in the early rounds of the DFB-Pokal by regional league side SC Paderborn 07. The match became one of the most infamous in recent football history when it was discovered that referee, Robert Hoyzer, had accepted money from a Croatian gambling syndicate to fix the match, which he did, awarding two penalties to Paderborn and sending off HSV player Emile Mpenza. The resulting scandal became the biggest in German football in over 30 years, and was an embarrassment to the country as it prepared to host the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

On 13 October 2011 Thorsten Fink was appointed as coach [28] with the team in the relegation zone after losing six of their opening eight matches. In HSV's first nine games under Fink they were unbeaten, going into the winter break in thirteenth place.[29] The team eventually finished fifteenth, avoiding a first ever relegation by five points. In 2012–13, HSV recorded a much improved seventh place finish. However, during the season the team equaled the club's record Bundesliga defeat, losing 9–2 at the Allianz Arena to FC Bayern Munich.[30]

Fink was replaced on 25 September 2013 by Bert van Marwijk,[31] who in the same season was replaced by Mirko Slomka on 17 February 2014. Under Slomka, the club narrowly avoided its first ever relegation from the Bundesliga in May 2014 by defeating SpVgg Greuther Fürth on away goals in a play-off.[32]

Hamburg plays its home games in the Volksparkstadion, which is currently called the Imtech Arena through a sponsorship deal. Built on the site of the original Volksparkstadion, opened in 1953, the current stadium was opened in 2000, and has a capacity of 57,000 – approximately 47,000 seats with another 10,000 spectators standing. The first Volksparkstadion had been a venue for the 1974 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 1988. The Volksparkstadion is a UEFA category one stadium, which certifies it to host UEFA Cup and UEFA Champions League finals. The stadium was the site of four group matches and a quarter-final in the past 2006 FIFA World Cup, hosted by Germany, and was known as FIFA World Cup Stadium Hamburg during the event. It was also the venue for the 2010 UEFA Europa League Final.

HSV fans can be buried at a dedicated graveyard near the home stadium, covered in turf from the original Hamburg pitch.[33]

HSV shares a cross-town rivalry with FC St. Pauli and contests the Nordderby with fellow Northern Germany side Werder Bremen. In the Spring of 2009 HSV faced Werder Bremen four times in only three weeks, and defeated them in the UEFA-Cup semi-final, as well as in the DFB-Pokal semi-final.

HSV have an affinity with Scottish club Rangers F.C. HSV fans unfurl their club logo at Rangers' away European matches. The link between Rangers and Hamburg dates back to 1977 when the Hamburg Rangers Supporters' Club was set up by HSV fans who had visited Rangers matches before and were thrilled by the atmosphere at Ibrox. The links were further strengthened when Rangers signed Jörg Albertz from Hamburg. The friendship between Celtic F.C. and Hamburg's rivals FC St. Pauli has no influence on this friendship though. HSV have a friendship bond with Hannover 96, due to both being known as HSV. Their meetings involve the visitors' club song to be played, and fans chanting HSV from each end of the stadium. Furthermore, the Hamburger SV has a friendship bond with Arminia Bielefeld.

The club colours are officially blue, white and black according to its statute but the fans use the combination "schwarz-weiss-blau" (black-white-blue) in their songs and chants; they also chant "haa-ess-fow" (HSV). The club crest is a black and white diamond on a blue background. These were the colours of SC Germania. The use of the blue background suggests a link with Hamburg's maritime tradition as the Blue Peter flag signal (meaning "All Aboard" or "Outward Bound") is a white rectangle on a similar blue background.[34]

In contrast, the team's home kit is white jerseys and red shorts, which are the colours of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. As a result, the team's most common nickname is "die Rothosen" (the Red Shorts). Because of its age and having been ever-present in the top flight of German football, HSV is also known as der Dinosaurier (the Dinosaur) and currently uses a dinosaur mascot called "Hermann" (named after long-time club physiotherapist Hermann Rieger) for marketing purposes.

HSV's kit was made by Adidas from 1976 to 1995 and the club re-engaged Adidas in 2007 having worked with a number of its competitors in the meantime. The first shirt sponsorship was introduced in 1974. The shirt now carries the Fly Emirates logo. The following is a list of shirt sponsors by date:

HSV's first participation in European competition came after they won the German championship in 1960 and were invited to take part in the 1960–61 European Cup. They had a bye in the preliminary round and their first round opponents were BSC Young Boys. HSV won the two-legged tie 8–3 on aggregate, beating the Swiss side 0–5 in the away leg on 2 November 1960 and then drawing 3–3 at home on 27 November.[35]

HSV's biggest win in a European match occurred on 23 October 1974 when they defeated Romanian team FC Braşov 8–0 in a UEFA Cup second round tie. Their biggest defeat was in the second leg of the 1977 Super Cup when they lost 6–0 to Liverpool at Anfield on 6 December. Manfred Kaltz with 81 has made the most appearances for HSV in Europe and Horst Hrubesch with 20 is their leading goalscorer.[36]

Based on data published by UEFA, a summary of HSV's European record to the end of the 2012–13 season is as follows:

One trophy from all of the competitions Hamburg has won in the HSV-Museum

HSV held the record of post-World War II first-class league titles, having won 15 Oberliga Nord and three Bundesliga championships until 2006 when Bayern Munich won its 19th Bundesliga title and overtook them.[citation needed]

Hamburg's three Bundesliga championships entitle the club to display one gold star of the "Verdiente Meistervereine." Under the current award system, their pre-Bundesliga championships are not recognized and so they are not entitled to the second star of a five-time champion.

After the replay of the championship final in 1922 had to be abandoned due to the opponents no longer having enough players on the ground, the German FA requested HSV to renounce the title which the club did.

The club's rugby department was established in 1925 but ceased operation in the 1990s. It was reestablished however in March 2006.[38] The club's men's baseball section, HSV Hamburg, known as the Stealers, was established in 1985 and plays in the first division of the Baseball Bundesliga.[39] Other important departments are volleyball and cricket. Okka Rau was qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics of volleyball.[40] HSV Cricket is playing in the league of the North German Cricket Federation (Norddeutscher Cricket Verband) and won several first places.[41]